Life's Crossroads: Beginning Half of Season 9
by Betterbuddy
Summary: Gibbs and Tony are presented with painful life challenges in S9, which only become more difficult as the FBI is investigating a security breach of all NCIS field agents's info, during their annual psych evaluation. Spoilers for S9 up to Housekeeping
1. Chapter 1

**Author Note: **

**This is a new storyline. However, some minor fictional details of a previous story, No Dad. . .Not Again Part 3 are continued in this story that were never presented on the show at any time. (Specifically, some minor details about Tony's parents.)**

_**The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost**_

_Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth;_  
><em>Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same,<em>  
><em>And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back.<em>  
><em>I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.[<em>

**Squad Room**

Gibbs entered the squad room to find Ziva and McGee typing their reports from their last two cases. As he came closer, Gibbs felt he was being judged by them, when they stopped typing and stared. Gibbs sat down and, after a moment, returned both Ziva and McGee's stares.

"Gibbs, we did not _think _you were coming in_._" Ziva started to say, but she finished slowly. Gibbs acknowledged her words with a nod and released his staring hold on them. Anticipating their next question, he provided the answers to their questions.

"You are never late." McGee explained.

"I took Tony to the airport and made sure he bought a non-refundable round trip ticket to New York to see his father and his new stepmother." Gibbs offered.

"New York?" McGee asked in confusion.

"I dropped him off this morning." Gibbs said giving him a hard look. Knowing that McGee and Ziva would become relentless in asking questions, he finally elaborated. "After he bunked at my place, he left to go home and get ready for work this morning."

"But. . ." McGee asked.

"I stopped him before he had a chance to come to work. I convinced him that he needed some time off. I told him to go clear his head and spend some time with his dad." Gibbs explained forcefully. "It took five head slaps to convince him it was the right thing to do." Gibbs added. Ziva winced and looked at Gibbs with sympathetic eyes, as she thought of Tony.

"But how. . ." McGee started to ask in concern.

"Yeah, Gibbs." Gibbs answered. "I am on my way, director." Gibbs added as he continued to glare at McGee and Ziva.

**Vance's Office**

"Director?" Gibbs entered.

"Two more cold case murders from the 1980's were now tied to Alda Bennett, since we handed the investigation over to the FBI." Vance explained to Gibbs. Gibbs nodded. "She had two other identities that she went by between 1980 and now."

"I know." Gibbs responded. Vance looked at Gibbs suspiciously at his quick response.

"I ordered DiNozzo to take the week off." Gibbs redirected the conversation. ". . .to get away from this."

"He will be out all week? Do you think he is okay, Gibbs?" Vance asked. Gibbs became uncomfortable from the question.

"He will be fine." Gibbs said glaring at Vance. The room became quiet.

"I needed DiNozzo to distance himself from this case." Gibbs explained. "I talked with Dr. Cranston. It was _her_ recommendation. She set the whole thing up for him."

"I understand." Vance said. "But, I also think that you are understating how concerned you are. You can't keep your eye on him, if he isn't here."

"He'll be fine, Director." Gibbs said heading for the door. "Are we finished?

**Vance's Office—One week later**

"Director Vance, Dr. Cranston is here to see you."

"Please send her in." Vance said.

"Director."

"Doctor, what can I do for you?" Vance asked, sitting down after shaking her hand.

"I am sorry to say that it is time for another mandatory psych evaluation of Special Agent Gibbs and his team." Dr. Cranston said. "With the most recent events that have affected the team, SecNav is concerned again and is waiting for the team evaluation. I told you before, that in clinical terms, they _are_ a disaster. When people keep things bottled up inside, the harshest response will seem the most appropriate. My fear is that this is becoming the true case."

"Yes, Doctor. I understand, and I do respect your professional opinion." Vance started to say.

"Agent Gibbs just lost his mentor, Mike Franks. The man not only responsible for helping him become an NCIS agent, but the man that also supported him through one of the most difficult times of his life. Mike Franks' death is so soon after Gibbs' ordeal with Paloma Reynosa and Alejandro Rivera, which resurfaced the painful memories of his wife and daughter's deaths. Agent DiNozzo is also grieving. He of course also knew Mike Franks, but he recently went through an ordeal where his old partner, Danny Price, who was murdered. There is a possibility that Agent Barrett was killed, and he already feels very responsible for Agent Cade's death. Then, we also just had this case where I helped him to retrieve repressed memories of his mother's death. That whole investigation led to his learning that his mother was actually murdered by a serial killer. Ziva also has had some tough situations to overcome, starting with having to kill her own brother, Ari, to her being captured and tortured in Somalia, and to her experience aboard the Damocles. SecNav is aware of all of this and feels that each year these traumas are escalating. He is concerned, and he wants an evaluation done immediately."

"All right, I guess you will have our full cooperation then." Vance said, standing up. They shook hands again and Dr. Cranston left the room to setup in the conference room.

"Director?" Vance heard his secretary over the intercom again. "Agent Fornell is here to see you."

"Agent Fornell? Please send him in." Vance said walking around to the front of his desk, surprised that he had yet another visitor this morning.

"Director." Fornell said as he walked in.

"Agent Fornell, how may I help you?" Vance said.

"I received a phone call from your Secretary of the Navy to investigate a security breach." Fornell tried to explain.

"Security breach? Why haven't I heard about this before, and why I am hearing about this from the FBI?"

"SecNav wanted the FBI, someone from outside of NCIS, to investigate how personal information of your NCIS field agents managed to get leaked out to a third party." Fornell explained.

"What!" Vance yelled shaking his head.

"Specifically, cell phone numbers and home addresses may have been compromised for all of your field agents. We want to find out who was responsible and for what purpose. Director, I recommend that you confiscate your agents' cell phones and have the cells all replaced. It is for their safety, if someone is tracking their GPS locations."

"Yes, I would like to get to the bottom of this. I can assign Agent McGee to assist you, in how that information was stolen." Vance offered Fornell, as he was still trying to accept what had happened.

"Wow, this is a serious threat though." Vance restated shaking his in frustration.

"I would like to conduct interviews using a polygraph, an internal review process, of all your field agents. There is a chance that one of them does know something or is being threatened in some way, but is afraid to come forward."

"That would be helpful. You will have our full cooperation. However, Gibbs' team is also involved in a mandatory psych evaluation, which at times might interfere with your investigation."

**Squad Room**

"Have you heard anything from Tony yet?" Ziva asked as she entered the squad room.

"No." McGee answered in concern.

"Was he not due back today?" Ziva asked whispering. They shared concerned and confused looks. Gibbs entered the room during their discussion. He sat down at his desk and observed how Ziva and McGee were watching him.

With an audible sigh, he finally offered an answer to their questions. "No, I have not heard from Tony, either. I expected him to call me last night from the airport." Gibbs admitted in a frustrated tone.

"His cell phone is turned off." McGee offered, looking over at Gibbs for a response.

"McGee, can you get me his father's phone number?" Gibbs asked, revealing that he was as concerned as them.

"Sure Boss." McGee responded and quickly performed the search. As quickly as McGee handed Gibbs the phone number, Gibbs dialed the number. Ziva and McGee listened carefully to half the conversation that Gibbs had with DiNozzo Senior, as he reviewed key details to the case concerning the serial killer, Alda Bennett.

McGee and Ziva exchanged questioning looks, as they realized that Gibbs had to explain every detail of the case to DiNozzo Senior. "It is no secret that I do think you need to communicate better with your son!" Gibbs continued to shout into the phone. "Yes, yes, I will make sure he calls you."

"What is it Boss?" McGee asked, watching the way that Gibbs closed his phone and threw it across his desk.

"_DiNozzo. . ." _Gibbs growled back. "DiNozzo, he never went to see his father, so his father doesn't know where his is. McGee, can you track DiNozzo's phone to find out where he is?"

"Yes Boss." McGee rushed to track the phone. "Oh yeah, it is still turned off." McGee stated as almost a question. In response to McGee's comment, Gibbs slammed his fist against his desk.

"McGee, can you find out if DiNozzo was on that plane?" Gibbs asked, handing McGee the copy of DiNozzo's flight itinerary. "Was he on the return flight too?"

"I can check that. He was on the flight into New York. But, no. . .he did not return on that flight this morning."

"So where is he? Why is his phone turned off?" Gibbs asked leaning back in his chair shaking his head.

"Is there a problem Agent Gibbs?" Vance asked, as he approached Gibbs' desk. When Gibbs did not answer his question, he gave Gibbs a signal to follow him back up to his office.

"Have a seat, Gibbs." Vance said, sympathetically.

"So, where do you think he is?" Vance asked softly, also in concern for DiNozzo.

"I – I don't know." Gibbs answered, shaking his head.

"Gibbs, I am concerned." Vance said. "I am concerned about your whole team." From Vance's statement, Gibbs looked at Vance suspiciously and confused.

"Gibbs, your team barely passed Dr. Cranston's psych exam the last time." Vance explained. "Remember what I said, when she was talking with your team? A bad evaluation can lead to change."

"With everything that you have been through in the last two years, starting with Paloma Reynosa and Alejandro Rivera to the most recent tragedy of the death of Mike Franks." Vance continued. "I already told you to take some time off Gibbs, when I had to intervene with your interrogation efforts."

"Ziva spent all that time captured in Somalia after her mission aboard the Damocles." Vance continued. "I still don't feel she is over that."

"And, now DiNozzo is missing, since he found out his mother was actually murdered by a serial killer." Vance continued. "That is still being investigated. This was so soon after dealing with the port-to-port killer. That was a very stressful case for everyone. Also, his old partner from Baltimore was also murdered recently.

"Ziva is fine, and she has been assessed. And me, . . . I can handle this. DiNozzo _will_ be fine too, just give him some time." Gibbs said strongly, in an effort to defend his team and show his irritation.

"Your field team is being benched. . ." Vance informed Gibbs. ". . .You will be reactivated pending a successful assessment following an extensive psych examination of you, David, and DiNozzo.

"Give me your cell phone Gibbs." Vance said, pointing to Gibbs' pocket. "I'll handle _locating_ DiNozzo." Vance ordered.

"I don't know if Tony can handle another doctor probing away at his mind right now. He needs a break, Leon." Gibbs said in an effort to protect DiNozzo from this investigation. When Gibbs did not get a response from Vance, he tried again to show his distaste of the situation.

"This seems a bit extreme for a simple psych evaluation, Leon." Gibbs asked.

"What is going on here?" Gibbs demanded.

"I really . . .can't say." Vance said as sympathetic as possible. "All field agents are under review right now too, so it will be necessary for field agents to submit to a polygraph again."

"What the h*ll?" Gibbs yelled raising his arms up in defeat. "There is nothing routine about any of this. What is going on?"

"Gibbs, I can't." Vance said, avoiding eye contact and shaking his head in frustration of this situation.

"Are you planning on splitting up my team again, Leon!" Gibbs shouted.

"Gibbs, my hands are tied here. But, believe me when I say this, that I am not targeting you and your team. Please, just cooperate."

"You can report to the interrogation room now." Vance explained. After reluctantly handing over his cell phone, Gibbs left the office and headed for the elevator. When he reached the interrogation room, he was surprised to find Agent Fornell there with her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Interrogation**

"Fornell, what are you doing here?" Gibbs asked in confusion.

"All field agents are under review. I just have some questions for you, after Agent Grady hooks you up for a polygraph."

"Fornell!" Gibbs shouted as a warning.

"I will explain later. . .just. . .I need you to play along right now." Fornell attempted to fend off an irate Gibbs.

"First question—have you or anyone you know taken personal information about NCIS agents?"

"No." Gibbs snapped.

"Second question—has anyone threatened you recently or are you being stalked?"

"No! What kinds of questions are these?" Gibbs snapped louder.

"Third question—After Paloma Reynosa and Alejandro Rivera were dealt with, has anyone from the Reynosa Cartel threatened you?"

"No." Gibbs answered sharply, indicated to Fornell that he had enough of his questioning.

"Fourth question—Are you currently being blackmailed?"

"No, I am not being _blackmailed_." Gibbs shot out.

"Fifth question—To repeat the earlier question, have you knowingly given confidential information about NCIS field agents to someone outside the agency?"

"No." Gibbs said under his breath.

"He passed." Agent Grady stated.

"All right Gibbs." Fornell waved off Agent Grady, who disconnected the polygraph. "Some confidential information about NCIS field agents has been stolen."

"Confidential?" Gibbs questioned.

"Cell phone numbers and home addresses were stolen. Your cell phone will have to be replaced for your safety, since that can be tracked."

"I have an agent, who might be missing right now." Gibbs stated.

"Who _might_ be missing?" Fornell asked curiously.

"Well, DiNozzo, we can't find him and his cell phone is turned off. He was supposed to return today, after spending a week in New York. I called his father, and he never made it to his house. His phone is turned off, and we cannot find him."

"I'll put in a call to track his credit cards." Fornell stated, trying to calm Gibbs.

**Squad Room**

After talking with Fornell, Gibbs returned to the squad room to find no one there. He looked around the room in confusion and sat down at his computer, only to discover that his computer was gone.

"Jethro!" Ducky said in frustration.

"Ducky, what is going on around here?" Gibbs asked looking around the empty squad room.

"Ziva was just sent into the conference room to talk to Dr. Cranston. Timothy was sent back down to the cyber unit to work on a project from Director Vance." Ducky explained. "I am getting the impression that we have been benched."

"Yeah." Gibbs replied shaking his head in irritation.

"Hey, by any chance have you talked with Tony?" Gibbs asked.

"No, I have not heard anything about him for a week now." Ducky answered.

"Gibbs, you can report to the conference room, once Dr. Cranston has finished with David." Vance ordered. "And, before you ask, I did a check on DiNozzo's credit cards. They have not been used since he left D.C., so I am still searching for him. He did rent a car, but he paid cash, and he still hasn't returned the car." Vance explained, knowing that the information had to make Gibbs even more concerned.

"Ziva?" Gibbs said, noticing her passing the squad room. Gibbs approached her.

"I just need some air, Gibbs." She said, teary eyed. Gibbs nodded at her in concern. "Then I will submit to a polygraph."

After seeing even Ziva defeated, Gibbs whipped around ready to voice his opinions to Vance. Vance quickly noticed the fire in Gibbs' eyes.

"I know Gibbs. I hear you." Vance responded.

"Please go up to the conference room." Vance ordered. "I promise that I will find Agent DiNozzo." Vance added. Gibbs relaxed slightly and reluctantly headed to the conference room.

**Conference Room**

"Ah, hello Agent Gibbs." Dr. Cranston said, as she watched Gibbs walk in.

"Doc." Gibbs said, as he sat down across from her at the table.

"Anything you would like to discuss, before we start?" She said. He shook his head.

"You recently lost a dear friend. Mike Franks, was your mentor, and he helped you through one of the most difficult times in your life."

"Mike. . .was dying of lung cancer. He didn't have much time left." Gibbs explained. "He went out - _fighting_."

"When I talked with Ziva, she mentioned that she has been concerned about you, since Franks died. She alleges that she is not the only member of your team who is concerned about you. Tony and McGee tried to set you up on a date because they felt you were lonely." Dr. Cranston said, watching for a response from Gibbs, who started to laugh.

"Yes, they did." Gibbs said, grinning and shaking his head. "That is what Agent Borin told me-that my team believes that I am lonely."

"Mike Franks, was there when I needed him." Gibbs said. "Now, I have my team. Maybe I have started to call them more often on weekends, when we do not even have an active case." Gibbs considered the idea.

"I am just checking up on them." Gibbs said.

"Are you worried about them for some specific reason?" Dr. Cranston asked curiously. Gibbs shook his head in disagreement, giving her a critical stare.

"There is no one that you are concerned about right now?" Dr. Cranston asked. Gibbs looked at her with a grin and considered just lying rather than attracting attention to any certain team member.

"Maybe, I am a little concerned about DiNozzo right now. You know all about the super dangerous assignment that the new SecNav gave him." Gibbs said quickly. "Tony is really unaware of his own limitations."

"Yes, and I will attest that I have never seen him that rattled or vulnerable before that night I spent with him in the hospital." Dr. Cranston agreed.

"And, it does bother me that he is missing right now." Gibbs added looking somewhat accusingly at Dr. Cranston.

"Excuse me?" She asked in surprise.

"He never went to see his dad." Gibbs said bluntly. "He was supposed to be back this morning. We can't get in touch with him."

"That—that is interesting." Dr. Cranston said a bit flustered from the information.

"Is there anything else that you want to ask me about, Doc?" Gibbs asked confidently. Dr. Cranston took a minute to refocus.

"I just want to make sure that you grieved properly, Gibbs." Dr. Cranston redirected the conversation.

"I did. _We_ did. My team lost Mike Franks too." Gibbs added. Dr. Cranston nodded in understanding.

**Squad Room**

"Ziva?" Gibbs said as he entered the squad room. He looked over at her, sitting at her desk also without a computer. "You all right?"

"Yes, thank you, Gibbs." Ziva answered with a smile, underneath her haunted look.

"Have you heard any news on Tony?" Gibbs asked.

"No, Gibbs. I have not. I am not sure who to call anymore. I just heard that he did pay cash for a car rental. His cell phone is still turned off. Why did NCIS have to take away our cell phones, as well?" Ziva shouted. A flustered Ziva waved her arms over where her computer would be.

"Check with Abby. I'll check with Ducky. Maybe, he tried to contact them." Gibbs said, shaking his head.

"He knows the number here at NCIS." Gibbs mumbled under his breath. He then slammed his drawer shut with both his hands cause the whole desk to shake. "Where is he!"

"Hello Abby." Ziva listened to Gibbs' rant, but then proceeded to call Abby. "Yes, well thank you Abby. I will tell Gibbs." Ziva looked over solemnly at Gibbs shaking her head. Gibbs angrily looked around the room, shaking his head. Then, he headed down to autopsy to talk with Ducky about the day's events.

**Autopsy **

"What kinds of questions did Fornell ask you?" Ducky asked.

"I am really not supposed to say." Gibbs said. "Apparently, confidential information about all our NCIS field agents was accessed and given to someone outside of NCIS."

"Oh my word!" Ducky responded. "That is a terrifying thought, Jethro. Do you think this has anything to do with Anthony's disappearance?"

After Ducky's comment, Gibbs turned away from him and started walking to the opposite end of the room.

"Jethro?" Ducky repeated in a very concerned voice. Gibbs started walking faster in circles. He turned back to Ducky with a frustrated and intense look.

"I don't know." Gibbs huffed. "Vance doesn't even want me looking for him."

"But you have been?" Ducky said more as a question, since he knew Gibbs could never follow that order.

"Of course." Gibbs said. "But I would have been on a plane to New York by now, if it wasn't for . . ." Gibbs admitted.

"Would you like me to?" Ducky asked. Gibbs considered the offer that Ducky made, than he shook his head in disagreement.

"We will find him, Ducky." Gibbs stated rather unconfidently.

"Yes, we will." Ducky tried to reassure Gibbs, as he could recognize the signs that Gibbs was not feeling in control of this situation.

"You should talk with Vance." Ducky suggested. Gibbs started to nod and headed toward the elevator.

"Thanks Duck." Gibbs said as he headed out of the door.

As he headed toward Vance's office, Gibbs passed through the squad room, to make sure that DiNozzo had not returned in his absence. Once again, the normally active squad room was a ghost town. McGee and Ziva were also absent and loose wires laid across the table as well as the floor. This only frustrated Gibbs more as he headed up the stairs to Vance's office.


	3. Chapter 3

**Vance's Office**

As Gibbs approached Vance's office, the secretary attempted to stop him before he barged through the door. He was taken aback when he found Vance standing at his desk across from a scruffy looking DiNozzo.

"DiNozzo!" Gibbs shouted. "Where the h*ll have you been?" As Gibbs approached, he took in how bad DiNozzo looked.

"Boss!" DiNozzo said, visibly shaken by Gibbs' intensity as he entered the room. "I am sorry. You weren't in the squad room. Otherwise, I would have come to you first."

"What happened, Tony?" Gibbs asked as he came closer to Tony and saw how ragged he looked. "Where were you? I talked with your dad. He never saw you."

"I know. I can explain." DiNozzo said, agitated by Gibbs' intense questioning.

"Gibbs." Vance intervened, giving Gibbs a concerned look wanting him to calm down.

"After I flew into New York. . ." DiNozzo started to explain to Gibbs looking at him apologetically. "I rented a car and took a little side trip to my mother's grave and the car crash site."

Gibbs nodded in understanding, as he continued to examine DiNozzo.

"Tony, it doesn't take that long to drive from there to D.C." Gibbs asked, suspiciously. "Where else did you go?"

"I can show you the rental car receipt, Boss. I just drove _a lot_." DiNozzo answered, noticing the unsatisfied, Gibbs-the-investigator stare.

"Gibbs." Vance said. "He answered your questions. Now, Agent DiNozzo needs to submit to a polygraph and to a visit with Dr. Cranston." Vance said giving Gibbs a persuading stare.

"I want you to report to interrogation." Vance ordered DiNozzo. After DiNozzo left the office, Gibbs looked at him critically.

"What are you doing, Leon?" Gibbs asked. "I know you could not have bought that half-assed story. He is leaving something out."

"I want you to calm down. I do agree with you. Let's see if Fornell can get some information before we start asking him more questions." Vance offered.

"Let me talk to him. I don't want him being interrogated by Fornell, while he is hooked up to a polygraph." Gibbs stated. "He has just been through too much lately."

"You were interrogating him right here a moment ago, and you weren't being very successful." Vance argued back.

"He isn't telling us everything." Gibbs retorted.

"And, I already said that I agree with that assessment, Gibbs. Look, I know you are just concerned about your agent." Vance responded. Gibbs shot back an irritated stare. Since Vance knew Gibbs would continue to argue with him about this, Vance surrendered to the Gibbs' intimidation stare.

"As long as you don't interfere, you may stand in the observation room. In fact, I'll go with you."

**Observation Room**

"He doesn't look right, Leon. Something is wrong." Gibbs said again looking into the interrogation room.

"Let's just see what happens." Vance responded.

**Interrogation Room**

"Agent DiNozzo, come on in." Fornell said, as he noticed DiNozzo standing in the doorway. He was taken aback by his scruffy, untraditional appearance.

"Come on." Fornell said again waving him in. When DiNozzo sat down, Agent Grady started to hook him up to the polygraph.

"Okay, I just have a few questions for you, Tony. Okay?" Fornell said, sensing how agitated DiNozzo was. "You all right, Tony?"

Tony just nodded, as he avoided eye contact.

**Observation Room**

DiNozzo continued to sit at the table in the interrogation room as Grady and Fornell reviewed the results of the polygraph.

"Why would he be asked that question twice?" Vance asked as Gibbs and Vance watched Fornell question DiNozzo.

"Did he pass?" Gibbs asked, doubtfully. They watched as Fornell left the room, leaving Tony hooked up to the polygraph in the interrogation room.

"Vance." Vance answered his ringing cell phone. "Yes, we are watching from the observation room." Vance closed his cell phone and looked curiously at DiNozzo through the glass. "I'll be right there."

"He just failed three of the questions." Vance informed Gibbs. "He failed the repeated question about being blackmailed and the one about being threated or stalked."

"Let me talk to him. Fornell won't get any further with him." Gibbs said forcefully. Vance considered Gibbs' request.  
>"SecNav wants someone from outside of the agency to run this investigation." Vance reminded him. Gibbs looked at him ready to argue.<p>

"Just give me a minute." Vance said, leaving to talk with Fornell. When Vance returned, he reluctantly agreed with Gibbs' request.

"You can go talk to him, but we will be watching." Vance said intensely. Gibbs nodded and approached the interrogation room.

**Interrogation Room**

"Agent Grady." Gibbs said as he entered the room. "Take five."

"Yes sir." Agent Grady said as she started to leave the room. She stopped as she planned to disconnect the equipment.

"No, leave him hooked up." Gibbs said as he eyed his distressed agent.

Now alone in the room with DiNozzo, Gibbs sat down and looked at his agent critically.

"Are you all right?" Gibbs asked. DiNozzo's eyes were bloodshot with dark, heavy bags underneath. He had a pale complexion. It looked as if he wore the same clothes for the last two days, and his hair was uncombed.

"Yeah, fine Boss. I am just tired." DiNozzo answered.

"Yeah, I can see that DiNozzo. Why aren't you sleeping? You were just on vacation." Gibbs said, eyeing DiNozzo closely for a reaction expecting DiNozzo to become defensive, but Gibbs continued since DiNozzo did not answer his question.

So. . .who is blackmailing you, Tony?" Gibbs asked, not expecting a real response immediately.

"What?" DiNozzo asked, shaken by the question. "I am not being blackmailed." DiNozzo said laughing.

"The polygraph says otherwise. You failed that question." Gibbs informed him.

"Who _threatened_ you then?" Gibbs asked watching for DiNozzo's reaction.

"I am not being threatened." DiNozzo answered, with an awkward laugh.

"Is someone stalking you then?" Gibbs asked, as he watched how visibly agitated DiNozzo was.

"The assignment that SecNav gave me made me feel like I was." DiNozzo admitted. Gibbs titled his head and glared at him.

"Can we talk in private?" DiNozzo asked looking around the room through the glass window at Vance, uncomfortably.

"DiNozzo." Vance said, entering into the interrogation room. "That isn't going to happen. You tell us what is going on now here."

"Sir, I am sorry. I don't know why Agent Fornell is here, but I am not the one being blackmailed."

"Director." Fornell said barging into the interrogation room, with McGee standing behind him. Vance looked at both Gibbs and DiNozzo for a moment before leaving to talk with Fornell and McGee. When Vance left the room, Gibbs gave DiNozzo a critical stare. He got up and disconnected the camera in the corner.

"Talk to me." Gibbs ordered as he returned to his seat across the table. DiNozzo stuttered over his own words, as Gibbs continued to treat him with his glare.

The door slowly opened and Vance walked in.

"Gibbs, I need to see you in my office." Vance said. As Gibbs stood up to follow him, he once again looked his agent over.

"Tony, go see Ducky. Get yourself checked out." Gibbs said, anticipating an argument.

"I agree. Then, go home and get some rest." Vance ordered, again taking in his poor appearance. "You can talk with Dr. Cranston tomorrow. The comment eliminated an argument that DiNozzo would have engaged in with Gibbs. As Gibbs followed Vance back to his office, McGee followed DiNozzo as he left the interrogation room.

"Tony." McGee said, walking up to the scruffy looking DiNozzo, who looked ready to growl at him. McGee got into the elevator with DiNozzo giving Tony a moment to settle down.

"What is going on?" McGee asked. DiNozzo shook his head back and forth. "Tony, I didn't tell Gibbs this yet, but I did pull up the rental agreement for the car in New York. You drove home to D.C. from New York the same day that you flew to New York. Why didn't you just tell us you were in D.C. all week? And, why do you look like this?" McGee asked accusingly but also concerned.

"I can't. . ." DiNozzo started to redirect McGee, but then the elevator doors opened to reveal Ducky in autopsy. "It's nothing McMother."

"Ah, Anthony." Ducky said. "I was wondering if you were coming. Based upon what Gibbs has told me, I agree with his concern in your appearance. Come with me."

**Vance's Office**

"Agent McGee found the source of the information leak. It was a student doing an internship here at NCIS last week. I sent Agent McGee and David to pick him up for questioning. I am putting your team in charge of that investigation now. If you want Fornell's help, that is fine, though."

"Now, what is going on with DiNozzo?" Vance asked with very apparent concern. Gibbs shook his head. Vance moved back behind his desk.

"I am on it, Director." Gibbs said heading down to autopsy.


	4. Chapter 4

**Autopsy **

DiNozzo followed Ducky over to his desk, where Ducky pointed for him to sit down on one of the autopsy tables. Within seconds he had a thermometer in his mouth and was checking his bloodshot eyes for any signs of a concussion and dilated pupils.

"Tony." McGee said again in a warning tone.

"Timothy, you are still here?" Ducky said in surprise.

"Is there are problem?" Ducky asked spinning around.

McGee continued to stare at Tony, who appeared lost for words.

"I am telling Gibbs then." McGee said, still wanting DiNozzo to explain this to him first.

"Tell me what, McGee?" Gibbs said forcefully as he entered autopsy, eyeing DiNozzo first and then redirecting his attention to McGee. McGee continued to look at DiNozzo, hoping that he would just explain now that Ducky had removed the thermometer.

"I got all the information about Tony's rent-a car." McGee started to say softly and slowly.

"McGee?" Gibbs said in confusion, watching him continue to look over at DiNozzo. Tony was still getting looked over by Ducky and seemed to be ignoring their conversation.

"What?" Gibbs snapped. "Just say it McGee."

"The car that Tony rented was driven directly from New York to D.C. in the same day. He has been here all week." McGee added forcefully, as he looked over at Tony one last time, who continued to ignore the conversation as Ducky continued to examine him. Gibbs angrily spun around and walked over to the agent, who now was avoiding eye contact and making no effort at defending himself, as Ducky's examination became more personal. Gibbs nodded at McGee. Knowing that Gibbs would get information out of Tony, McGee left the room.

"Well Jethro." Ducky said, giving Gibbs an annoyed look. "Anthony here just told me that he has missed about three nights of sleep. He is also very dehydrated, had high blood pressure when he first got here, and now low blood pressure just a second ago. As we know, he is suffering from some memory loss, and has a little nausea." Ducky said finally looking at an angry Gibbs behind him, who had his attention solely on DiNozzo.

Gibbs watched as Ducky continued to poke around at DiNozzo. Ducky listened to his heart and lungs, and then he revealed some of the bruises that he found in the middle of Tony's back to Gibbs.

Gibbs nodded slowly at Ducky for his evaluation, as he still stared at DiNozzo. Gibbs then walked over to DiNozzo, who still sat on the edge of the table, but also avoided eye contact. Gibbs then reached over and gave him a hard head slap, which did not get much of a reaction from DiNozzo.

"I am sorry, Boss." DiNozzo said getting down and avoiding eye contact, as he felt the anger eliminating from Gibbs and as he anticipated a Gibbs' lecture.

"What is going on?" Gibbs said sharply.

"I just couldn't see my father." DiNozzo answered.

"Yeah, I got that part." Gibbs said waiting for him to elaborate.

"Anthony, what have you been doing all week?" Ducky intervened. "And why did you lie to Gibbs?"

"Since I got here, -late-, today, Vance has been in the room and then I was hooked up to a polygraph." DiNozzo said in an almost whiny tone.

"You should not be lying to a polygraph or Vance, DiNozzo." Gibbs said becoming increasingly irritated with DiNozzo's appearance and attitude.

"After the flight to New York, I found myself driving back to D.C.. Then, I just stayed home." DiNozzo said.

"Last Wednesday though, I woke up and found a man standing in my apartment." DiNozzo finally admitted.

This comment quickly changed Gibbs' demeanor as his anger was now filled with concern and curiosity.

"Who?" Gibbs asked approaching him.

"A man supposedly connected to the old Reynosa cartel." DiNozzo said directly to Gibbs, watching for his reaction now.

"What did he want? And, why didn't you tell me about this last week?" Gibbs said angrily.

"He wants revenge. He said he bugged your house. He also bugged Ziva, McGee, and my apartment. He is tracking our phones." DiNozzo explained. "He said he also has eyes and ears inside of NCIS."

"And you are just now telling me about this?" Gibbs said accusingly.

"I don't remember anything beyond that conversation with him, Boss. I woke up in my apartment a little while ago and came straight to work. I don't know what happened." Gibbs looked at him suspiciously, starting to wonder if this was a hallucination of some kind. Gibbs became increasingly concerned as DiNozzo seemed so distraught from this. He then looked over at Ducky, who seemed to anticipate Gibbs' comments.

"I will do a drug test, Gibbs." Ducky said, who was ready to draw blood from a reluctant DiNozzo.

"Come here Anthony, I need a sample of your blood." Ducky said to DiNozzo who was now getting very squeamish after seeing the needle.

"Hey." Gibbs said softly, approaching them. He pushed DiNozzo closer to Ducky.

"We need to find out what happened here, and your blood sample could add new insight." Gibbs said starting to understand why DiNozzo chose to lie to Vance and Fornell during the polygraph.

"Stop moving around so much Anthony." Ducky ordered. "I need you to stay still."

"Tony." Gibbs said sharply. After Ducky drew the blood, Gibbs got a call from McGee.

"All right, I'll be right there McGee." Gibbs said, looking at DiNozzo.

"The intern that stole our personal information is in the interrogation room." Gibbs said to DiNozzo, who was surprised by this information. "I want you observing. Than. . .you're going home."

"Thanks Duck." Gibbs said appreciatively. Gibbs then gripped DiNozzo's arm above his elbow and pulled him toward the elevator.

"I'll be in touch about the results of the blood and urine tests." Ducky said.

Gibbs looked over DiNozzo and shook his head, speculating if he had gotten the whole truth out of his agent this time. DiNozzo noticed how he was being examined by Gibbs.

"I told you everything. . ." DiNozzo explained. ". . .that I know, Boss." Gibbs looked at him carefully but could not get a clear reading from his agent's bloodshot and exhausted eyes. DiNozzo entered the observation room, a bit startled that Gibbs followed.

"Now, do you recognize him?" Gibbs asked, turning to face him and watching DiNozzo closely.

"No. Well yes, I remember seeing him in the building, but he is not the guy that was in my apartment." DiNozzo answered. Gibbs sighed and went to join McGee in the interrogation room.

"So, Mr. Ramos, you just finished your internship here at NCIS." Gibbs started to say.

"And, we have evidence that you have accessed and stole personal information about NCIS agents." McGee added.

"I don't know anything about that." Ramos retorted.

"We have information from our server that confirms that you do. We also have video surveillance footage." McGee continued.

"Who did you give that information to?" Gibbs asked walking around the table, as McGee sat across from Ramos leading the interrogation.

"No one." Ramos said with a smirk, which only intensified Gibbs' questioning.

"It says here that you were born in the United States, but that you also lived in Mexico." Gibbs said looking at his internship application. "Do you have any associations with the Reynosa cartel?"

The question returned a strong response not only from Ramos but McGee as well.

"This is just the beginning Gibbs." Ramos said with a devious smile, in response to the question.

"What does that mean?" McGee asked.

"How did you access that confidential information?" McGee asked, watching Gibbs pace and leave the room. Gibbs reentered the observation room to see DiNozzo.

"Is there anything that you didn't tell me, Tony?" Gibbs asked looking over DiNozzo and watching him closely.

Vance walked into the observation where they were talking.

"DiNozzo, I am surprised you are still here. I ordered you to go home." Vance reminded him.

"We are waiting on some blood test results." Gibbs said quickly intervening.

"So. . .what is going on here?" Vance redirected the conversation.

"We are still trying to get a confession." Gibbs said. Vance started to listen in on McGee and the intern.

"What is your association with the Reynosa cartel, then?" McGee asked.

"_Reynosa cartel?_" Vance said sharply, looking to Gibbs. "What exactly is going on here?"

"We don't know yet." Gibbs said. "We will keep you updated."

"Gibbs?" Vance said sharply. "At no point did Fornell or I mention anything about the Reynosa cartel, where did you get that information?" Gibbs returned Vance's stare, as they looked apprehensively at each other. Vance then broke the stare, looking over once again at a very ragged looking and disconnected DiNozzo.

"Agent DiNozzo!" Vance said sharply, which caused DiNozzo to jump in response.

"Is there something I should know about?" Vance looked at him questionably.

"Ah, sir . . .I really don't know much about this." DiNozzo tried to dance around the question without lying anymore. "I am waiting to see what Agent McGee can find out from the suspect."

"Do you know why the Reynosa cartel is suddenly being mentioned in association to this intern's security breach?" Vance asked directly.

"The guy lived in Mexico?" DiNozzo said in his normal snarky manner, trying to irritate Vance into thinking he did not know any details about this. Vance's body tensed up in annoyance of DiNozzo's comments.

"We will keep you apprised to the information we learn from this interrogation, Director." Gibbs said.

McGee watched as Gibbs returned to the room.

"So you accessed and stole information about NCIS agents?" Gibbs started to say. "Are you helping the Reynosa cartel?

"Like I explained to your agent, no I do not know any Reynosa cartel." Ramos answered.

"This is a very serious charge to be threatening federal agents. It would be in your best interests to cooperate." Gibbs stated.

"McGee, go talk to DiNozzo about the _bugs_." Gibbs said, sitting down in his chair where McGee stood up.

"Bugs?" McGee questioned.

"Just mention it to DiNozzo, he will know what you mean." Gibbs said, encouraging McGee to talk with DiNozzo.

McGee entered the observation room where DiNozzo and Vance stood watching the interrogation.

"Tony." McGee said, as he entered the room. "Gibbs wanted me to ask you about the bugs."

"Bugs?" Vance questioned, looking at DiNozzo for the explanation. DiNozzo tensed up from the attention from Vance.

"Ah, yes, well . . .see my apartment might have been bugged." DiNozzo said wincing.

"By whom?" Vance said, turning to DiNozzo for an explanation.

"The Reynosa cartel." DiNozzo answered, knowing that he just indirectly admitted to lying earlier.

"DiNozzo." Vance said accusingly. "What is going on?"

"This guy. . ." DiNozzo explained pointing to the intern in the interrogation room. ". . .is either working for or is part of the Reynosa cartel, and he gave them our personal information. Our apartments have been bugged, McGee, as well as Gibbs' house. Our cell phones are being tracked and there might be another offspring of Pedro Hernandez, who also is seeking revenge on all of us."

"And you know this how, Tony?" McGee asked, not totally convinced by DiNozzo story or hoping that his apartment was not truly bugged as he explained.

"DiNozzo." Vance warned in an angry tone.

"I am sorry, sir." DiNozzo said, looking down ashamed. "On Wednesday, a man broke into my apartment and told me about this new threat. Then, I think I was drugged. I wasn't sure until now, if this was all true." Vance nodded, giving DiNozzo a critical stare.

"McGee, do what you need to do, but find out who bugged your apartment, where the signal is being sent, and how to disable it."

"Yes sir." McGee said, giving Tony a quick look before leaving.

Vance looked at DiNozzo harshly before listening back to the interrogation.

"Pedro Hernandez had another son. His name is Carlos, and he is an FBI agent." Ramos explained to Gibbs.

"He not only seeks revenge from you for his father death, but he seeks revenge from your team members that were involved in Paloma's death as well." Ramos continued. Vance and DiNozzo continued to listen in on the conversation.


	5. Chapter 5

**Observation Room**

"What kind of deal do we really plan on giving this guy for turning in his boss?" Vance asked Gibbs as he re-entered the observation room. Gibbs just tilted his head and grinned. Vance nodded and left the room but once again eyed DiNozzo on the way out.

Gibbs looked over Tony, who now looked ready to literally fall over from exhaustion and from the scrutiny he seemed to be under.

"Did you talk to McGee?" Gibbs asked, as he continued to notice how bad Tony looked.

"Yes, Boss." DiNozzo responded, remembering back to Vance's reaction.

"And, Director Vance now knows too." DiNozzo added a little snarky.

"There was no reason to hide it from him anymore, Tony." Gibbs snapped back.

"We have a confession, too." Gibbs added before signally for Tony to follow him out.

"It is time to take you home." Gibbs ordered, once again looking over his agent. When the elevator started, DiNozzo slipped back having to grab onto the bars to steady himself. Gibbs reached over to try to keep him steady too.

"Yeah, you need to go home." Gibbs said. They headed out the garage to the parking lot. When DiNozzo had made it as far as the car, Gibbs was pretty confident that he could get Tony home without him passing out. Gibbs let him sleep in the quick ride to his apartment. After parking along the street, he called out to Tony to wake him up for the walk up the apartment elevator.

"Tony?" Gibbs said. "You're home. Come on, let's go." Gibbs shook his head as he watched DiNozzo stumbling to the elevator.

"Hey, are you going to make it, Tony?" Gibbs asked.

"Come on." Gibbs ordered again, guiding him to the apartment door. Tony almost fell into the door, when he keyed it.

Gibbs suspiciously started to wonder if this was more than just exhaustion. He watched Tony walk into his bedroom.

"Thank you, Boss." Tony yelled from the other room. Gibbs nodded and then shook his head, as he sat down on the couch and turned on the television. After an hour of sitting on Tony's couch while he slept in the other room, Gibbs answered his ringing cellphone.

"Yeah, McGee, what did you find out?" Gibbs asked.

"The bug that is in my apartment is actually registered to the FBI, but Agent Carlos Hernandez is the person that put the bug in my apartment. I found a way to deactivate them, by sending an audio signal to the chip inside the bugs."

"Deactivate yours, as well as Ziva's and Tony's, McGee." Gibbs ordered, trying not to use the word bugs, while in Tony's apartment building, in case Hernandez was listening in.

"And yours?" McGee asked.

"No." Gibbs answered. He now watched the movement from down the hallway closely.

"Go back to bed, Tony." Gibbs ordered. DiNozzo continued to head toward Gibbs. Gibbs threw up his arms in annoyance, treating Tony with a scowling glare.

"Boss, I can't sleep." DiNozzo almost whined to him. Gibbs stood up and approached him closely. DiNozzo winced anticipating a head slap from an annoyed Gibbs.

"If you start to sway at all. . ." Gibbs started to say sharply. Looking him over, Gibbs backed off for a moment and focused on their situation. He directed Tony into the apartment building hallway, where they could talk freely.

"Okay, we have another member of the Reynosa cartel, who has FBI access and is set on revenge against us. What are we planning to do?" Gibbs asked, watching DiNozzo closely as they stopped near the elevator.

"Wait for him to make a mistake, like Alejandro did?" DiNozzo offered quickly as Gibbs moved next to him even closer than before. He could feel Gibbs standing closely examining him critically as he answered. ". . .maybe bug his place?" DiNozzo added with a nervous laugh as he tensed up from Gibbs' close proximity.

"Hmm-Mmm." Gibbs said still looking him over. There was now sweat rolling down the back of Tony's neck, and he was trembling.

DiNozzo looked at Gibbs out of the corner of his eye, waiting for a head slap or a lecture.

"Tony?" Gibbs said again. "Go eat something, if you are not planning to sleep."

"I'm fine, Boss." DiNozzo responded unconvincingly to Gibbs.

"McGee will be stopping by to take care of the bug in your apartment." Gibbs said looking at his watch.

"I need to go talk to Fornell in person." Gibbs said once again looking over DiNozzo.

"Okay." DiNozzo said ready to go get his coat.

"No. You stay here and eat. If you can't sleep, I want you to at least sit down. Even watch some television!" Gibbs ordered, shaking his head in distaste of DiNozzo's untraditional appearance.

"Here, this is your new cell." Gibbs pulled it out of his pocket before leaving in the elevator. "Don't you forget, Tony, that you have an appointment with Dr. Cranston tomorrow morning." Gibbs said in a stern, fatherly tone.

"Boss, are you. . .going to be okay?" Tony asked, concerned about Gibbs safety knowing that a member of the Reynosa cartel was once again gunning for Gibbs. Gibbs held the elevator door back preventing them from closing. "I'll be with Fornell, trying to learn more about Carlos Hernandez.

**Squad Room**

"Hello Gibbs." Ziva said, sitting at her desk typing away on her computer.

"Ziva, you are still here." Gibbs said smiling.

"Yes, well I have my computer back, Gibbs." Ziva said proudly. "How did everything go with Fornell?"

"He said Hernandez is exercising his power well beyond is authority. When McGee returns, Fornell wants the bugs to try to have Hernandez reprimanded."

"Where is McGee, anyway? I am surprised he isn't back yet." Gibbs asked.

"I will call him." Ziva quickly dialed his new cell number. "I think his phone is off."

"Call DiNozzo then. McGee was supposed to stop over at his place." Gibbs ordered, now with concern in his voice.

"Tony? I am sorry did I wake you?"Ziva asked. "Is McGee there? We are trying to reach him."

"Tony said that McGee still has not come to his place." Ziva said. Gibbs asked for the telephone receiver.

"What? Oh, no he should have been there by now." Gibbs said. "I'm coming back over with Ziva to retrace his steps."

"Do you want me to go to his place, Boss? I could get there quicker than you from this location." Tony offered.

"All right, Tony. . .be careful." Gibbs said, second guessing his decision but also worried about McGee.

**McGee's Apartment**

In the dark of night, Gibbs' slammed on the brakes as he approached McGee's car parked on the street near his apartment building. The keys were in the car with the door not completely closed. Ziva reached in and grabbed the keys. They both ran up to the apartment. There was no sign of a struggle, but there was also no sign of McGee.

"Where is DiNozzo?" Gibbs barked. They ran back down to the street.

"I do not even see his car." Ziva pointed out. "I will call him." Ziva quickly dialed Tony's new cell phone number. To both their surprise, they could hear a cell phone ringing coming from underneath McGee's car. Ziva bent down under the car and picked up the loose cell phone.

"This is Tony's cell phone." Ziva said, giving Gibbs a dumbfounded look. "What is going on?"

Gibbs grabbed the phone from Ziva's hand to check for himself. He started to look franticly around.

"Let's get out of here Ziva." Gibbs said in concern for her.

"Here you drive to Tony's place. I am calling Fornell." Gibbs said as he handed her the keys.

"You do not believe that Tony will be there though, do you?" Ziva asked curiously.

"No, but I still want to check." Gibbs said as he dialed Fornell's number.


	6. Chapter 6

**DiNozzo's Apartment**

"Wow, so this is Agent DiNozzo's apartment?" Fornell said sarcastically. He entered the opened door to join Ziva and Gibbs, only to have Gibbs redirect him into the hallway. "Somehow, I pictured it more as a Frat house or college dorm. This is actually quite tasteful. . . .Nice home entertainment system, too."

"It's bugged." Gibbs reminded him pulling him back into the hallway. "McGee never made it here."

"Right." Fornell said.

"What can you tell me, Fornell? I have two agents missing right now." Gibbs said bluntly.

"This Agent Hernandez has been with the bureau for the last ten years, and he is well respected. He has been based in California assigned to investigating insurance fraud. Since his transfer to the D.C. area three weeks ago, he started working in Cyber Crimes, specifically investigating identity theft. I have assigned two of my agents to monitor his activities. However, I don't know anything regarding DiNozzo and McGee's whereabouts."

"Boss." McGee said coming down the apartment hallway. Both Gibbs and Fornell quickly turned to face the source. There stood McGee and DiNozzo behind them. Although Gibbs did not verbally express his concerns, his feelings of concern, worry, and relief were all expressed in look on his face.

"We are fine." McGee responded to the unspoken words. "But, when I deactivated the bug at my apartment, three men appeared at my door almost minutes later. I didn't open the door and instead tried to climb out the back fire escape. However, I figured out that these men were tracking my cell phone as I tried to sneak over to my car. By the time I figured that out and ditched my cell phone, Tony had pulled up. So I got into his car and told him to throw his cell phone out the window. I think you should do the same, Boss and Ziva. I don't think that intern was working alone. Someone is tracking the new cellphones that we were just issued."

"We are all here now. Should we not make them come?" Ziva presented. "Can you smash another insect, McGee?"

"Bug." DiNozzo quickly corrected.

"Ah, yes, I mean bug . . .bug." Ziva corrected.

"Boss, I am with Ziva. I think we should still deactivate all the bugs and your cellphones, so that they come." DiNozzo said.

"Whoa Boss! Behind you!" DiNozzo quickly said pushing Gibbs out of the way, as bullets started to fly. McGee pushed Fornell to the side also. The three men were at the other end of the hall firing their guns at them. They took cover, as the bullets started flying heavy. The team and Fornell started firing their guns back. By the time their first rounds of bullets were fired back, the three men were dead.

"Are those FBI agents, Fornell?" McGee asked.

"They can't be." Fornell said angrily.

"That cranky old bat from downstairs will complain about the noise for sure." DiNozzo added, as they all stood back up assessing the damage and situation. Ziva looked to DiNozzo and giggled.

Gibbs kicked away some fallen debris as he stood up and quickly stormed away from them. DiNozzo and Ziva picked up on their boss' hostility.

"Are you okay there, Boss?" DiNozzo tried to ask casually.

Gibbs turned around and looked back at Tony in concern for him, as well as the rest of his team. He continued to acknowledge the damage of the fire fight.

"Boss?" DiNozzo said again.

"We need to turn off our new cell phones. I will have another team deactivate the rest of the bugs in our homes. For now on, we need to stay together at the Navy Yard."

"We can't live at the Navy Yard, Boss." DiNozzo repeated with a nervous laugh, knowing that Gibbs was not kidding. Gibbs approached DiNozzo very closely, treating him with a serious glare.

"Is there a specific reason why you cannot stay at the Navy Yard, Tony?" Gibbs asked suspiciously. DiNozzo became very closed lipped and attempted to walk away.

"Carlos is literally taking out our investigative senses. We had our computers taken away earlier, so we were blinded from any information on him. Now we cannot communicate with each other, since we literally had to dirt our cell phones."

"_Ditch_ our cell phones, Ziva." DiNozzo corrected again.

"Yes, I mean ditch. It is dangerous for us to be apart right now." Ziva shared some of her observations.

"But the Navy Yard? Do we really need to stay at the Navy Yard?" DiNozzo whined. Gibbs once again glared at DiNozzo waiting for a real explanation as to why he was so against staying at the Navy Yard.

"I will. . .go back to my office and see what I can do." Fornell said in amazement of the disaster that resulted from the fire fight and of the current situation with Gibbs' team. "I will put him under surveillance."

As Fornell was about to leave, Gibbs asked to borrow his cell phone to call Vance. After informing Vance of the situation, the team returned to NCIS headquarters as Fornell returned to his office.

**Vance's Office**

"So, your field team had to sleep at their desks last night?" Vance asked.

"This Carlos Hernandez has effectively shut you and your team down, Gibbs. What do you plan to do about it?" Vance asked.

"We are waiting for Fornell to get back to us." Gibbs responded.

"This is the last thing that your team needs right now, Gibbs." Vance said, which earned a concerned response from Gibbs.

"I am thinking of reassigning your team." Vance said.

"Oh, no I chose my team." Gibbs said quickly, approaching Vance angrily. "This is my team." Gibbs emphasized.

"I told you to take some time off before." Vance reminded him. Gibbs tensed and regarded Vance angrily.

"And, DiNozzo needs the same." Vance added. "I still want him to see Dr. Cranston." Vance's comment earned a nod from Gibbs in agreement.

"Ziva passed her psych exam as well as the polygraph." Vance redirected. "But as far as I am concerned, she and McGee are the only two members of this team fit for duty in the field."

"What do you want us to do then, Leon?" Gibbs shot back. "This team is being targeted right now, and you want us to go home?"

"I know with Mike Franks gone now that you would have no plans of spending a few months off in Mexico, so is there another location you would prefer to take a hiatus?" Vance asked. Gibbs did not respond but scowled back at him. "The agent afloat assignment really helped DiNozzo out of his last emotional rut. Maybe that would be a good temporary assignment for a few months once again."

"No!" Gibbs shot back at Vance. "Why do you have to mess with my team, Leon? The goal is to catch this maniac not dismantle the team instead."

"Your actions have been unpredictable lately. I told you before Gibbs that I am held accountable for your actions, and right now, I can't trust you." Vance stated.

"And, DiNozzo." Vance shook his head, stepping away from Gibbs. He then turned around and headed back to Gibbs.

"Is he drinking again?" Vance asked very directly. The question made Gibbs very suspicious and defensive.

"What?" Gibbs snapped back.

"If DiNozzo had this blackout because of his uncontrolled, alcohol consumption, then I want him enrolled in a treatment program and temporarily reassigned at the very least." Vance explained.

"He does not have a problem with alcohol." Gibbs said confidently. "He handles alcohol better than anyone."

"He has had trouble with alcohol abuse in the past." Vance said, expecting Gibbs to know exactly what he was referring to.

"When!" Gibbs shouted back throwing his hands up in the air in disbelief.

"Come on Gibbs! You had to know he had a problem before, specifically when grieving Jenny's death." Vance informed him. "I removed him from the USS Ronald Reagan because of his alcohol abuse every time they made port. Although he did pull himself together by the time he was placed on the USS Seahawk that was after almost three months of a battle. How has he handled this recent case learning, after thirty-two years, that his mother was actually murdered?" Vance explained and asked, as he watched the emotions that flooded Gibbs' face.

"Why is this the first time I am hearing of this?" Gibbs asked, admitting his surprise to this information.

"That's a good question. It was DiNozzo's request that this information be kept quiet, specifically from you." Vance answered. "However, by now, your gut should have told you. Are you in some sort of denial?"

"You split up my team three years ago without warning, without discussion or explanation." Gibbs started to shout.

"I split up your team to find a mole, but at the same, I was trying to prevent you from losing two of your agents." Vance added.

"You weren't thinking of my team. You gave me no say in the matter. You gave my agents no say in the decision." Gibbs shouted.

"I did talk with both DiNozzo and David. They both accepted the reassignment before I informed you of the change the night of Jenny's funeral service. After Jenny was killed, I had to stop both of them from turning in their badges. And both of them had reservations about returning even three months later from the overwhelming guilt. After DiNozzo was transferred off of the USS Ronald Reagan, I met with him about transferring back here, where we could watch him. I also needed him here at the time, especially since your gut was unsuccessful still at that point in identifying Agent Lee as the traitor."

"DiNozzo was the last member to return, and you are telling me he should have been the first." Gibbs reiterated, thinking back to the night that he had returned from the Seahawk with DiNozzo, against what he believed were Vance's orders. "I remember the discussions sounding very different back then."

"I also told you that DiNozzo's reassignment was not a punishment." Vance shot back. "There was purpose to each of their reassignments then, Gibbs."

"DiNozzo belongs here. He belonged here then and he belongs here now." Gibbs redirected Vance to the current concern, although Gibbs had also become overwhelmed with the details that he overlooked three years ago.

"Make sure he talks with Dr. Cranston." Vance ordered. "Keep a close eye on your agent, too." Vance turned to pick up his desk phone that was ringing. As he did this, Vance could feel the Gibbs' stare burning through him.

"The other team just reported back to me that they deactivated the bugs in DiNozzo's apartment and your home. They are currently at David's apartment deactivating that bug." Gibbs nodded and left the room.


	7. Chapter 7

**Squad Room**

Gibbs entered the quiet, squad room where his team sat at their desks. DiNozzo and McGee still did not have their computers back, so they just sat there staring into space. Gibbs turned to DiNozzo, when he heard him release a long sigh.

"Tony." Gibbs said, as he turned to face him.

"Yes Boss." DiNozzo said sitting up straight and looking at Gibbs.

"Conference room." Gibbs said in a soft and slow tone, reminding DiNozzo of his meeting with the doctor.

"Oh, yeah. Thanks Boss." DiNozzo said with a nervous, little laugh from Gibbs' reminder. Gibbs watched him head up the stairs and then hesitate at the door. He watched as DiNozzo seemed to struggle with opening the door. When DiNozzo looked back down at the squad room to see Gibbs staring back at him, he quickly turned and entered the room as he was ordered.

"Ziva?" Gibbs said slowly, as he pointed toward the elevator. Ziva quickly joined him in the elevator. Based on Gibbs' demeanor, she was not surprised by how Gibbs pulled the emergency stop button in the elevator. She waited for Gibbs to initiate the conversation but was treated with a long, examining stare. When she started to blush and shift uncomfortably under his glare, Gibbs tried to confirm the information that he just learned from Director Vance.

"After Jenny Sheppard's death, three years ago, did you and Tony try to resign?" Gibbs asked. Surprised by the question, Ziva answered more quickly and openly than she intended to.

"We both did resign, Gibbs, because we both felt responsible. When I went to Vance's office, Tony was already there. Vance told us that if we wanted to resign, we would have to resign to you. He suggested a temporary reassignment for both of us." Ziva answered.

"But then neither of you wanted to come back?" Gibbs asked sarcastically, in disbelief of Vance's comment. "If I had stayed with Mossad in Israel, there is a chance that Michael and I would still be together and that he would still be alive, but I came back because I missed you Gibbs." Gibbs turned towards her with a sorrowful grin.

"Tony wasn't supposed to even be assigned to the _Seahawk_." Gibbs repeated Vance's words. "He was supposed to come back after leaving the USS Ronald Reagan."

"I think that he did need that time away." Ziva offered. "He has a unique way of dealing with grief. He was also overwhelmed with guilt, then."

"Drinking?" Gibbs said quickly waiting for a response from Ziva.

"He did do that a lot at first." Ziva nodded in agreement. Her confirmation of Vance's accusations of DiNozzo's abuse of alcohol caused Gibbs to wince from missing the signs. Ziva did not miss Gibbs' reaction. She looked at him suspiciously.

"Gibbs?" Ziva asked. "Is there something wrong?" Gibbs just shook his head and gave a small smile.

"Is he drinking now?" Gibbs asked her, looking to her for her insight. Ziva looked Gibbs over in concern, surprised that he would ask her such a question.

"I do not know if he has been abusing alcohol again. I have not asked him. But, I am surprised, Gibbs, that you are asking me this. Have you not known Tony a lot longer than me? You know how he handles his alcohol."

"To my knowledge, I have never seen him abuse it." Gibbs said, looking over at Ziva for her reaction to his comment. "But, you have?"

Ziva did not argue, which answered Gibbs' question. Gibbs smiled at her, giving her an unspoken thank you, as he released the emergency stop. They reentered the squad room to find McGee typing away on his recently re-hooked up computer."

"Boss, this is interesting." McGee started to say picking up the remote for the plasma screen. "Carlos Hernandez's wife was an employee here at NCIS. That could also explain how so much of our personal information was given to the Reynosa cartel. She has been here all along."

"Who?" Gibbs asked.  
>"Dr. Janice Bracco." McGee said looking shocked.<p>

"Dr. Bracco. I – I told her so much." Ziva said, thinking back to when she first returned to NCIS after her imprisonment.

"We all told her so much." McGee offered. "She even came on to me. And, I think Tony, too. Here, she is married."

Gibbs sighed and looked up at the conference room door, where Tony was with the new NCIS psychologist, Dr. Cranston.

"That is interesting." Gibbs said. "And, it explains a lot. Where is she?"

"I can't find her." McGee admitted.

"I was hoping that Dr. Cranston. . ." McGee pointed up in the direction of the conference room. ". . .might know."

"I'll check with her." Gibbs offered, wondering how Tony was doing anyway after the discussion with Vance and Ziva. He approached the door, making sure Vance was not around. He knocked on the door and waited for Dr. Cranston to open the door.

". . .that's not how it works, Tony." Dr. Cranston said, as she opened the door. Gibbs waited to be lectured on how he should not interfere or interrupt a psych evaluation. He got a glimpse of Tony sitting at the table with a haunted look on his face as he stared down at the table. Dr. Cranston stepped in front of his view, effectively blocking Tony from his site as she stepped outside, closing the conference door.

"What is going on Gibbs?" She asked, irritated at him for interrupting.

"I need to ask you a question about your colleague, Dr. Bracco." He stated.

"Okay, what is the question?" Dr. Cranston asked, crossing her arms and still looking irritated from the interruption.

"Where is she? How would we get in touch with her?" Gibbs asked.

"She relocated to the New York office about three weeks ago from D.C., as she pulled out a business card for him with all the office locations." Dr. Cranston looked at him curiously. "What is this about, Gibbs?"

"Oh, we are just following a hunch." Gibbs said in a very encrypted manner. As Dr. Cranston was about to reenter the conference room, Gibbs stopped her for a moment.

"Hey Doc, how is he doing in there?" Gibbs asked. As annoyed as she was with Gibbs right now, she felt obligated to answer.

"He is. . . _talking._" Dr. Cranston offered without giving details.

"Will he pass?" Gibbs asked. She smiled and refused to answer. "Off the record, Doc, I would like to find out if he has a drinking problem, if he is abusing alcohol to help himself cope."

"Gibbs, this is all on the record." Dr. Cranston finally said. "And, it is all already being addressed."

"You know I am worried about him." Gibbs said. "And, we did this to him." She winced at Gibbs' comment, thinking back to the last case Gibbs worked on that involved having Tony to relive painful memories and repressed memories. With those thoughts, she continued to struggle with how to handle the information.

"I will find out for you, Gibbs." She said. "Now go."

**Squad Room**

"This is interesting." Gibbs said approaching McGee's desk. "She is now based in the New York office."

"Tony was just in New York." McGee reiterated.

"DiNozzo just keeps saying that he flew to New York and decided that he couldn't see his father, so he drove home." Gibbs said.

"Do you think he is lying?" Ziva asked curiously.

"Maybe." Gibbs said. "He could just be leaving out details."

"He is good at that. As he has said before, the best lies contain mostly the truth." Ziva added.

"Or distractions from the truth. . ." McGee also added.

"What are you thinking, Boss?" McGee asked.

"I need to talk with Bracco." Gibbs said, which surprised Ziva and McGee because they were just talking about DiNozzo.

"Boss?" McGee said confused.

"It was Cranston's idea for DiNozzo to go to New York to visit his father. He never made it to see his father, but did he see Bracco?" McGee visibly flinched from the comment.

"We need to talk with Bracco." Ziva stated.

"Yeah, but we aren't leaving this office."

"Let us go pick her up, Boss." McGee offered.

"No, too dangerous." Gibbs said picking up his desk phone. "I'll have Fornell do it." He said with a slight smile, as he started talking with Fornell.

"Just continue to look for any other leads. We need to find Carlos Hernandez and figure out what his next move is."

Gibbs noticed movement upstairs and his Agent DiNozzo started to walk down the staircase. He tilted his head and stood up straight when he saw Tony heading down the stairs. As Tony continued to walk slowly, looking down at the floor deep in thought, he did not notice that Gibbs was standing right in front of his path to his desk.

"With me, Tony." Gibbs gave a soft smile, as he directed Tony to the elevator. Tony obediently followed, but he continued to look lost in his thoughts. When the elevator doors opened, Gibbs guided him inside. After a moment, Gibbs hit the emergency stop and looked over Tony a moment, which Tony missed from being so lost in his thoughts.

"Hey." Gibbs said trying to redirect his attention. He looked Tony over a minute, hesitating just for a moment waiting for Tony to refocus.

"New York." Gibbs finally said, which caused Tony to look at him.

"Did you see Dr. Bracco in New York?" Gibbs asked a very direct question.

"Wha—what?" DiNozzo said in response. Gibbs watched and waited for a response from Tony.

"It is a simple yes or no question, Tony." Gibbs said. Tony looked at him, noticing that Gibbs was in full interrogator mode. Not wanting to get caught in a lie, DiNozzo finally answered the question.

"Yes. Dr. Cranston wanted me to check in with her at the New York office after I landed." DiNozzo stated.

"You left that out before. Why—what happened?" Gibbs asked. Tony turned away from him, but Gibbs moved in closer and was within inches of his right ear. Gibbs could see how uncomfortable DiNozzo was getting from being in the elevator so close to Gibbs and unable to avoid this conversation.

"It really wasn't important." Tony tried to laugh off.

"It is important. Whatever happened. . .caused you to drive back to D.C. rather than see your father." Gibbs stated as he watched Tony tense up even more. After a long uncomfortable silence, Gibbs stepped in front of Tony establishing eye contact.

"Boss, why does this matter with this case?" Tony argued defensively. After another long uncomfortable silence with Gibbs glaring at him in the confined elevator with no escape, Tony could not hide any longer.

"Yes, I talked with her. I had talked with her about how I dealt with some issues in the past." DiNozzo offered but stopped.

"Do these past discussions involve dealing with grief?" Gibbs asked. "Maybe some feelings of guilt also?"

"Yes." DiNozzo said. "Agent Cassidy. . . Kate. " DiNozzo said, as he swallowed hard, trying to address the issues casually.

"Jenny Sheppard?" Gibbs added, watching Tony closely, but Tony did not answer the question. He looked away from Gibbs. Gibbs saw how ashamed he looked suddenly. As Tony pulled away from him, Gibbs cornered him again and reestablished eye contact.

"Tony." Gibbs warned softly. "What did you two discuss?"

"You." DiNozzo looked up at Gibbs.

"Me?" Gibbs asked.

"She had a lot of questions about you and Mike Franks." DiNozzo said shaking his head, now thinking back suspiciously at the conversation, which was not unnoticed by Gibbs.

"Bracco is Carlos Hernandez's wife, Tony." Gibbs stated.

"What!" DiNozzo said almost in panic.

"Hey, slow down, Tony. Is there anything else I should know?" Gibbs asked. He could see DiNozzo was still processing that information.

"She has always been there, Boss." DiNozzo started to rant. "She was there during the whole ordeal with Paloma and Alejandro."

"I know. I told her all about Shannon and Kelly, too." Gibbs admitted, when he saw how upset DiNozzo was getting.

"I talked about you with her." DiNozzo added. "And, here she is married to Carlos Hernandez."

"Yeah, so did McGee and Ziva." Gibbs added, nodding his head in agreement that this was a serious threat.

"Whoa, oh my Boss, Leyla and Amira are now right here in D.C., do you think they are in danger again?" DiNozzo asked, which did return a scared response from Gibbs.

"They could be." Gibbs said, quickly releasing the emergency stop button. When they returned to the squad room, DiNozzo was quickly on the phone requesting protection for Leyla and Amira, as Gibbs called their home. When she did not answer, Gibbs started to head for the elevator and the rest of the team quickly followed.

"What is going on, Boss?" McGee asked. "Are Leyla and Amira the real targets? Were we just a distraction?"

"I don't know McGee. They might have become the targets, when we took refuge here." Gibbs said.

"They might be the bait." Ziva added, looking at Gibbs in concern.

"You put on vests, all of you." Gibbs ordered as they ran through the garage before heading to the cottage where Leyla and Amira lived.

As they approached the house, they found three suspicious, armed men outside, which they quickly knocked unconscious. They stormed the cottage. When they entered they found five men ransacking the rooms. They drew their guns as Gibbs and Ziva entered from the front and Tony with McGee entered from the back. After handcuffing them and sitting them down in the middle of the room, they continued to look for Hernandez and any other hostiles. They also looked for Leyla and Amira, who Gibbs suspected were in the basement hiding. When they felt the cottage was secure and there was no sign of Hernandez, Gibbs finally opened the basement door. They found Leyla and Amira downstairs. By the time that they came upstairs, the agents assigned to protect them had arrived.

"Why don't you guys just take these intruders?" Gibbs asked the agents, wanting to make sure that Mike Franks' family remained safe in his care. "We took out three hostiles outside as well." Gibbs added.

"Is one of these guys Hernandez?" Ziva asked, looking around at all the individuals that they knocked out or handcuffed.

"I killed a man outside in the backyard, as well." Leyla admitted to them. They stepped out in back to find a man shot lying in the grass. Gibbs took out the photograph he had of Hernandez to try and compare.

"McGee when we get back to work tomorrow. I want you to start running through other people at NCIS or the FBI that might be connected to the Reynosa cartel." Gibbs ordered.

"On it Boss." McGee added as he headed outside.

"Why don't you stay at my place, until we can get you into a safer location?" Gibbs said to Leyla. She nodded in agreement.

"I will take them." Ziva said with a smile guiding them over to the car.

"You too, DiNozzo." Gibbs added.

"Boss?" DiNozzo said confused.

"Your apartment was destroyed, remember?" Gibbs said. DiNozzo nodded in agreement with a light laugh. "And, there is something else that we need to address."

"Yeah, what is that Boss?" DiNozzo asked. Gibbs pulled DiNozzo over to the side.

"Are you abusing alcohol again, Tony?" Gibbs asked, examining Tony. He did not get the reaction that he had hoped for.

"I don't have any kind of problem, Boss." DiNozzo said casually, only to earn an angry glare from Gibbs.

"I am handling it. I have a handle on it." DiNozzo quickly responded.

"You are right about that. It will be handled." Gibbs added, looking at DiNozzo critically.

The whole team spent the night at Gibbs' home to protect Mike Franks' family. There were no incidents throughout the night. However, Gibbs still wanted to look into a more well protected community for them.


	8. Chapter 8

**Squad Room**

The next day in the squad room the team continued to locate any possible connections to the Reynosa cartel that still existed at NCIS. When Fornell arrived with Dr. Bracco, he had her in handcuffs.

"What happened Fornell?" Gibbs asked.

"Your head shrink here, Gibbs and Team Gibbs, just tried to kill me, when she learned that Carlos Hernandez was dead."

Fornell handed Bracco over to NCIS security to bring to the interrogation room. As Bracco was taking away, Gibbs could not have missed how pale DiNozzo became.

"Well, my work here is done, Gibbs." Fornell said. Gibbs nodded an appreciative smile.

"Tomorrow. My treat." Gibbs said without an explanation. Fornell agreed to the dinner invitation that was just extended to him from Gibbs, as he left to return the FBI mess that Hernandez had left for him. Gibbs gave a few quick glances at DiNozzo, who was sitting at his desk rubbing his forehead.  
>"Tony, we got her. That is all that matters." Gibbs said.<p>

"I just told her so much." DiNozzo stated, disappointed with his misplaced trust.

"Imagine how Cranston will feel when she finds out about her associate?" Gibbs added.

"Hey." Gibbs said softly, fingering him over. DiNozzo obediently walked over to Gibbs, who stood up again at his desk. He reached over and gave DiNozzo a firm head slap that earned a low-sounding moan.

"There is nothing here for you to feel guilty about, Tony." Gibbs ordered. "I mean that."

"But Boss. . ." DiNozzo stopped after he was warned again by Gibbs.

"McGee caught that Bracco was married to Hernandez. That was carefully hidden information, since he is an FBI agent."

Gibbs noticed how pale DiNozzo had become from standing up, and he started to sway a bit again. DiNozzo looked down, trying to hide his condition from Gibbs. Anticipating his need to leave the room, DiNozzo looked back up at Gibbs with an extremely apologetic look.

"Please excuse me a moment, Boss." DiNozzo said before bolting for the bathroom. As Gibbs continued to stand there with an annoyed glare, looking in the direction of where DiNozzo ran, McGee entered the room.

"Boss?" McGee asked, noticing the upset look that Gibbs had. "Are you alright?" From the question, Gibbs redirected his attention to the agent standing in front of him.

"Great work today, Tim." Gibbs said, sitting back down. McGee continued to stand there looking over Gibbs.

"Boss?" McGee said again. Gibbs looked back up at him in surprise that he was still standing there. "Are you really alright?"

"Fine, McGee." Gibbs said quickly, still looking up at McGee.

"We just had to deal with the Reynosa cartel again, and I was just wondering if. . ." McGee started to say.

"McGee, thank you for the concern. . ." Gibbs intervened with an appreciative but also slight annoyed grin, thinking back to his conversation with Dr. Cranston about his team being concerned about him after the death of Mike Franks.

". . . but I am more concerned about you three right now." Gibbs effectively redirected McGee's attention.

"What?" McGee quickly responded. "Boss, I am fine."

"_We_. . .are all fine." McGee did not finish that sentence convincingly even to himself. "Well, _we_ aren't any different than we were before this case started anyway." McGee said with a partial smile thinking of Ziva and DiNozzo.

"So, are you talking to your own father again, McGee?" Gibbs asked curiously, showing that he was aware of even McGee's little bothers.

"Yes, I think we are good again." McGee said with a smile. "I am having dinner with Penny and my father next weekend, actually." McGee shook his head with a smile. Gibbs nodded with a grin.

Once the room got quiet again, McGee considered Gibbs' comment again about being more concerned about the three of them rather than himself.

"Boss?" McGee asked, noticing how Gibbs was staring in his direction, though it was also in the direction of where DiNozzo ran to.

"Oh, I was just wondering if DiNozzo fell in." Gibbs said casually waving his hand in the air, as he looked back at his newly returned computer, as he typed his report.

"Did you want me to check on him?" McGee asked standing up, looking back and forth from Gibbs to the direction of the bathroom.

"No. We have been down this path before." Gibbs said enigmatically referring to DiNozzo's alcohol abuse.

"Oh, ah Boss, I did intend to mention this to you before." McGee shouted, almost causing Gibbs to jump.

"When I was working with the FBI trying to identify the source of the leak and what information was accessed, I did a quick search through all of our phone records-just to check for unusual activity and phone numbers." McGee explained. "Honestly, I didn't think I would find anything." Gibbs listened but then glared at McGee, when he still hadn't provided the information that he said that he had.

"So, when I did this, I found that Tony. . ." McGee emphasized, before looking around the corner to see if DiNozzo was there. Gibbs became increasingly irritated and stood up, walking over to McGee.

"Sorry Boss, so Tony has gotten a call from the same phone number roughly three to five times an evening since January 1st. The calls generally last a max of two minutes, so my thought is that Tony lets it go to voicemail each time."

"That is a personal phone call, McGee." Gibbs stated, downplaying his concern. After sitting back down at his desk and looking at his computer again, he continued to process the information longer as well as the obvious concern coming from McGee as well.

"So who is the phone registered to?" Gibbs asked.

"A private caller, so the name is blocked." McGee informed him. "Now I realize that we had to turn over our cell phones during this investigation concerning Carlos Hernandez. However, we are supposed to be given our new cellphones within the next hour or so. These new phones will have automatic call forwarding from our old numbers. In other words, whoever this is - will continue to call especially if this person was not associated with the Reynosa cartel."

"Next time the person calls, do you think you could trace it and try to get a GPS location?" Gibbs asked.

"Yes Boss, I will do that." McGee nodded in agreement. Gibbs looked over past McGee's desk, realizing that DiNozzo still was in the bathroom. McGee watched as Gibbs left to check on DiNozzo.

"Hey." Gibbs said as he entered before he even saw where DiNozzo was. When he entered, he saw a stall door closed in the bathroom. "You all right, Tony?"

"Oh hey, Boss, my lunch just didn't agree with me." DiNozzo said from behind the door.

"Come on out of there, Tony." Gibbs ordered, noticing how Tony had to be kneeling in front of the toilet based upon the fact that the soles of his shoes were hanging outside the stall door. Tony slowly managed to leave the stall finally and head over to the sink. Gibbs walked over to his side, leaning against the counter as Tony splashed water on his face.

"I am sorry, Boss." DiNozzo said heaving, as he turned to face Gibbs near the sink. DiNozzo was surprised by the rather angry and disapproving glare he was being treated with by Gibbs.

"You lay off the sauce for a while." Gibbs said.

"Wha-huh-I am sorry, Boss?" DiNozzo was taken so aback by Gibbs' comment. Making sure that his point was clear to DiNozzo, Gibbs continued to treat him with his glare as he continued to get closer and closer to DiNozzo. As usual, the close proximity caused DiNozzo to tense up, especially from the anger he could feel coming from him.

"This is why you did not want to stay here at the Navy Yard, now you are going through withdrawal, right?"

"Lay-off-of-the-sauce." Gibbs repeated slowly emphasizing each word.

"I gotcha, Boss." DiNozzo said. After Gibbs made sure that DiNozzo had heard his request, he looked him over. In addition to the paleness, vomiting, and sweat rolling down his neck, DiNozzo was squinting partially from the bathroom lights.

"Let's go." Gibbs said holding open the door, expecting DiNozzo to go back to his desk. DiNozzo slowly approached the door that Gibbs held open. Realizing that Gibbs was examining his every move and every symptom, DiNozzo carefully moved through the doorway but wishing he was invisible right now. When taking the corner by McGee's desk, Gibbs saw DiNozzo start to sway before completing the turn. He grabbed DiNozzo's arm and guided him over to his desk.

"Sit." Gibbs whispered.

"Uh, thanks Boss." DiNozzo said in an embarrassed tone as he was treated with a concerned Gibbs' glare. After a few minutes of silence, Gibbs looked over at his agents again. McGee was way too quiet and buried himself into his computer again. While Tony was attempting to type his report on his newly returned computer, he was trying to wipe sweat pouring down his forehead with a tissue.

"Tony." Ziva said as she entered the squad room again. She turned to face him. "Dr. Cranston would like to see you again." She said pointing back up to the conference room. Tony winced and slowly got up before heading back to the conference room.

"Ziva?" Gibbs said looking at her in concern.

"I am fine, Gibbs." She said very seriously and teary eyed. Gibbs looked her over and nodded. Then, Gibbs squinted his eyes, looking up the stairs to check that Tony got up there without passing out.

"Boss." McGee whispered. Gibbs quickly got up and went to stand over McGee at his desk. Gibbs watched as McGee worked his magic on the computer in order to track where and who the phone call was coming from. As McGee processed the phone call, Gibbs briefly heard a cell phone ringing in the distance upstairs.

"Baltimore." McGee said. "Here Boss, I will write down the exact location the call originated from. "But Baltimore. . . It could be. . ."

"Anyone." McGee and Gibbs said in unison. Gibbs grabbed the post it from McGee with the phone number and location.

"It could be _**W-e-n-d-y**_." Gibbs said emphasizing each letter in DiNozzo's ex-fiancée's name. McGee's head popped up from Gibbs' mentioning of her name.

"Did you meet Tony's ex-fiancée, Boss?" McGee asked.

"Oh yeah." Gibbs said in a light tone. "She really hit it off with Abby."

"I talked with her a lot during DiNozzo's first year here at NCIS, when they were still engaged." Gibbs explained. The information even distracted Ziva from self-torment, as she replayed the details of her personal discussion with Dr. Cranston.

"Do you know why they broke up?" McGee asked. Gibbs gave McGee an entertained look from the out-of-character, rather nosey question.

"No not exactly, McGee." Gibbs said seriously and with a tone that warned him that he was asking too many questions now. "She did interfere with some investigations because she was constantly calling throughout the day and had issues with our long work hours."

"What was she like? Was there something _unique_ about her?" Ziva asked Gibbs. Gibbs shook his head and looked down at his desk. He could not believe the corner that he backed himself into here. Followed by a small grin, Gibbs felt the need to answer a currently over-sensitive Ziva.

"You should be asking DiNozzo these questions." Gibbs said, looking at McGee and Ziva, who seemed to be anxiously awaiting any information that he had on the subject. "Honestly, I thought of her as a female-Tony. She _is_ also. . ._older_ than him."

"Older!" Ziva repeated in surprise. "Now, that is unique for Tony DiNozzo to date someone _older_ than he is. Usually, his dates are so much younger." Gibbs smiled again at how excited she seemed to be by this information on Tony.

"Gibbs, did. . ." Ziva started to ask. Gibbs looked up from his desk with a smile but waved her off.

"Ziva. . .Ziva, really you need to ask Tony." Gibbs said with a small smile.

"But, I do think that this call. . ." Gibbs started to say, holding up the post it that McGee gave him with the phone number that he just tried to trace. ". . .was from her."

"Are you planning to ask him?" McGee asked.

"I don't think I will pursue this any further than I already have." Gibbs said. "It most likely _is _her."

The team looked up when Dr. Cranston and Director Vance headed toward to squad room. DiNozzo dragged himself slowly behind them.

"Well, believe it or not, the doctor is pleased. You all passed."

"Really!" Ziva said loudly and gratefully, looking around the room in obvious surprise of the news. She looked specifically at Tony who now barely made it back into his chair, as he stumbled around his desk.

"You all did a better job this time actually _talking_ to the doctor. I am therefore un-benching you officially, but I am ordering you all to go home immediately."

"DiNozzo." Vance said, turning around to face him.

"After that gun fight in your apartment hallway, NCIS will offer you a motel room until you are allowed back into your apartment." Vance offered.

"Oh, he can stay with me, Director." Gibbs said giving DiNozzo a watchful glare, causing Tony to look very pale again. Vance noticed how Gibbs was regarding Tony.

"All right then. You may go. Good work today everyone." Vance said, looking over the field agents of Team Gibbs. As soon as Vance said that, Ziva and McGee had grabbed their bags and headed for the door.

"Good night." They yelled.


	9. Chapter 9

"So, where are you staying, Tony?" Gibbs asked Tony, who was now holding his nose and pressing his forehead against the same hand as support.

"Hey, are you staying at my place?" Gibbs asked again standing in front of Tony.

"Oh ah, yeah thanks for the offer Boss." Tony said quickly, hoping that he would be leaving soon.

"Tony, I will meet you downstairs." Gibbs said, handing him his keys. As the elevator doors opened, Ducky came off the lift as Tony went on.

"Hey Duck." He said.

"Good night, Anthony. Get some sleep tonight!" Ducky said with a smile.

"Gibbs." Vance said from over by the windows, standing with Dr. Cranston.

"Oh, thank you for coming up, Dr. Mallard." Vance said as Ducky joined them. Gibbs approached all three of them standing by the windows near the squad room.

"Soooo, what is this about, Doc?" Gibbs said with a grin.

"It is about you and your team, Gibbs." Dr. Cranston said.

"I thought you just said we are fine." Gibbs said.

"You are and you will be, but I want to share an observation I made." She said.

"Your team is very insecure right now, Gibbs." She explained.

"How exactly?" Gibbs asked sarcastically.

"They _are_ acting out of character, Jethro." Ducky intervened in a distraught tone.

"Anything that makes her think of her father will make Ziva cry right now, Gibbs. It was a major life decision for her to quit Mossad and join NCIS. She even had to change her citizenship to do that. McGee has been extremely quiet and jumps at any chance to be assigned to Abby's lab right now. He is walking on eggshells around you three right now. However, even Abby is trying to decide on a course of action concerning her true parentage and if she should try to contact them. And Tony, who isn't he grieving for? Agent Barrett still has not been found or officially pronounced dead. Anthony had this recent case to deal with concerning his mother's death. Not long before that, his old partner Danny Price was murdered. And now, the death of Mike Franks did affect him too, mostly because his death affected you, Jethro. Anthony is guilt stricken right now for multiple reasons, as well. showing some serious self-doubt in his abilities after the situation involving Agent Barrett and Agent Cade. The recent memory lapse of what took place from Wednesday to now didn't help either." Ducky explained.

"You are still grieving the loss of Mike Franks." Ducky started to explain. "It all starts with you Jethro. Now, we just dealt with the Reynosa cartel again. As the team leader, your insecurities trigger their insecurities."

"Come on, Duck. I am not insecure. To prove this point, I will make sure for now on that I do not behave in an insecure manner. I have grieved, but I will grieve again. My team is my responsibility, so I will handle my team. They have been quiet lately, and they all concern me. They have dangerous jobs, and they all have suffered a trauma. DiNozzo has not been right since May, when he was given the assignment from SecNav."

"Your team is worried about you too, though. You are their leader and if you are insecure or grieving over the loss of Mike Franks, they will be affected by this as well." Dr. Cranston provided her insight.

"This is why I was pushing for the temporary reassignments, Gibbs." Vance interjected. "I reassigned your team the last time, when you were grieving Jenny Sheppard's death."

"Don't split up my team, Director." Gibbs warned.

"What about DiNozzo? He is abuse alcohol—_again._" Vance added. "I still believe a temporary reassignment would be a good fix. It builds self-confidence."

"We took a blood sample." Gibbs added in his defense, looking at Ducky questionably.

"Yes, we did, and I forgot to mention all of my findings." Ducky said almost in excitement, preparing himself for a long, detailed medical explanation.

"While I did find some alcohol in his system, he did have traces of painkillers in his system as well. When taken together, the combination of alcohol with painkillers can actually worsen the effects in the system, occassionally causing alcohol poisoning even. More specifically, it can increase the after effects of a hangover. It could explain the blackout. No one was with him last week to know for sure what happened, but it is possible to even go into a coma or have a seizure. At the very least, it can cause lapses in judgment and cause confusion. I could not find any prescription painkillers that Anthony was prescribed recently, when I brought up his medical history. Even if it was over-the-counter though, Anthony really has had trouble in the past in handling painkillers. I remember what an incredible, spot-on imitation he did of Jack Nicholson when he was on prescription, painkiller medication, after he broke his nose four years ago. . ." Ducky explained to them with a laugh.

"Ducky." Gibbs said with a small grin to redirect him.

"Oh dear, I am sorry." Ducky smiled looking at his audience. "The fact that he blacked out three days of memories does concern me. We need to find out exactly which painkiller that he was on and if there was long term damage done." Ducky added his insight to the discussion. "I would recommend a hospital visit for a more extensive medical evaluation, and we need to make sure that he doesn't combine the alcohol with the painkillers again."

"Why would he have them?" Vance asked in concern. Ducky shook his head.

"During his examination, I did find a collection of deep bruising on his back." Ducky answered more as a question, looking for a confirmation from Gibbs. "I never asked him why he had those bruises, either. With Anthony, it is hard to keep track of the sports he plays and still plays."

"I'll get the painkillers from him." Gibbs informed them, as he started to approach the elevator doors.

"Gibbs." Dr. Cranston said. "Take care of yourself, too."

"My team will be fine." Gibbs said defensively.

"Are you fine, Gibbs?" Dr. Cranston asked.

"Yes." Gibbs said shortly, in irritation that the subject kept being brought up, as he stepped into the elevator.

When Gibbs reached the garage, he ran fast out to the parking lot. He was shocked to find that DiNozzo had actually listened to him and had gotten into the passenger side of his car. As he opened the door, he found the keys in the ignition and DiNozzo sleeping. His head was tilted back over the top of the headrest, his mouth wide open as slept, and he snored. Gibbs got into his car, looking back and forth from a sleeping DiNozzo to the keys he was turning in the ignition.

As Gibbs made it to his driveway and put his car into the garage, he felt the unfortunate need to wake up the sleeping DiNozzo next to him.

"Hey." Gibbs said softly. DiNozzo did not even flinch from the sound of Gibbs' voice, which just showed how sound asleep he was. As Gibbs continued to watch him sleep, he spotted Tony's backpack behind him. Gibbs kept his eyes on DiNozzo, as he reached back and snatched the bag. At first Gibbs tried to be sneaky and quiet about looking through his bag, but when he did find a bottle of prescription painkillers in it, he quickly snatched them and threw the bag back in the backseat. Gibbs climbed out of the car and called Ducky.

"He has a prescription bottle of Demerol here, Duck. The prescription was given to him by Dr. Bracco. There was a 30 count of pills, and I think he has taken 10 pills in the last week. Okay, I will find out why he is taking these pills, Duck." Gibbs said, looking into the car at the still-sleeping agent. As Gibbs climbed back into the car and waited for him to wake up, DiNozzo finally stirred.

"Hey, let's go inside." Gibbs said quickly, grateful that DiNozzo finally woke up. DiNozzo jerked awake completely from the sound of Gibbs' voice.

"Boss?" DiNozzo said in confusion realizing where he was.

"Let's go inside." Gibbs said watching him. DiNozzo simply nodded in agreement, as he still tried to process where he was and how he got there. The confused look earned an amused smile from Gibbs, which quickly changed back to concern as he still held the bottle of painkillers.

"Ready to go in?" Gibbs said again. DiNozzo simply nodded and followed Gibbs into his house.

After getting settled, DiNozzo joined Gibbs on the couch.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping?" Gibbs asked looking over his agent. DiNozzo looked over at him with a nervous nod.

"Yeah." DiNozzo said wincing.

"Before you go sleep, like you are supposed to be doing right now. . ." Gibbs said to him.

". . .what were these for?" Gibbs finished the question as he pulled out the bottle of painkillers.

"Oh. . ." DiNozzo said in surprise. "Did I drop those?" He asked in confusion, looking around.

"No. What are they for, Tony?" Gibbs asked again.

"I uh, got those when I was in New York." DiNozzo said.

"For?" Gibbs snapped, really getting irritated with how difficult it was to get DiNozzo to talk lately.

"At the airport, I slipped, fell backwards, and went down a set of like six steps on my back." DiNozzo explained with an embarrassed laugh.

"And." Gibbs prompted, his irritation was clearly heard in his tone now.

"I guess I did have a little too much alcohol to drink on the plane." DiNozzo admitted. "So after I fell, I headed over to Dr. Bracco's office, to check in before I saw my father like Dr. Cranston wanted me to. Then I was supposed to see her after, but instead I drove home. Anyway, Dr. Bracco handed me some Ibuprofen right away and a prescription for Demerol, which she gave me because I couldn't even sit down after the fall at the airport."

"I was having back spasms." DiNozzo started to ramble, nervously laughing as he talked.

Gibbs shook his head. "You don't mix alcohol with any kind of drug, DiNozzo!" He shouted in his concerned fatherly tone. DiNozzo winced in preparation for a head slap that never came.

"After that visit to her office, I guess I got confused. . .from the alcohol, ibuprofen, the pain of the back spasms. . ." Tony rambled. ". . .and drove myself back home to D.C." Tony said, looking cautiously over at Gibbs.

"I swear, Boss, that I only had some wine on Wednesday because I had trouble sleeping." DiNozzo said trying to defend the accusation that Gibbs made about him having a drinking problem.

Gibbs angrily turned to him shaking his head. "The Demerol had to be well into your system by that point, Tony."

"You know you can't handle painkillers, what were you thinking?" Gibbs said. "That was almost a suicide attempt, DiNozzo."

"Whoa, oh no way Boss. I would never." DiNozzo shot back.

"Well, whether it was the painkillers or the alcohol, you are not getting either on my watch now, Tony." Gibbs said, seriously eyeing his agent. After an uncomfortably long silence, Gibbs flipped on the television. He looked over at DiNozzo, once again sitting quietly next to him. After Gibbs continued to stare at him, DiNozzo finally turned waiting for another lecture.

"Why don't you go get some sleep?" Gibbs said in a much softer tone.

"Ah, I am good for now. I don't really think I could get to sleep right now." DiNozzo responded with a smile. Gibbs looked him over.

"So who keeps calling you?" Gibbs asked without giving an explanation. With the intense glare that Tony was getting, he decided that denial or a smart remark was not the appropriate response.

"Uhhhh," Tony just moaned and waved his hand around in disgust. "It is . . ."

"_W-e-n-d-y?"_ Gibbs said slowly emphasizing each sound in her name. DiNozzo quickly laughed.

"Her brother. I worked with him in Baltimore PD." Tony answered finally. "Of course, it is about Wendy." As Gibbs listened to DiNozzo, he could sense his reluctance and frustration. This was something he really did not want or need to talk about right now, especially with everything else that was going on.

"Ducky is taking you to the hospital tomorrow for some tests and a better examination." Gibbs informed him, watching him carefully for his reaction. When DiNozzo started to argue, Gibbs cut him off quickly.

"Boss, I am fine. . ." DiNozzo responded.

"You're going, Tony." Gibbs ordered with little effort. Gibbs shook his head and looked back at DiNozzo.

"Boss?" DiNozzo said almost worried what he would order next.

"I think I just realized what poor Mike Franks had to go through, when I first became an agent." Gibbs said thinking back to the agent he was at first, a grieving widower who lost both his wife and daughter so tragically, so violently, and pointlessly all at the hand of Pedro Hernandez.

"My career at NCIS has come full circle, in a sense with Mike's passing. Yeah, between _you_ especially. . ." Gibbs emphasized looking at a confused Tony. ". . .Abby, and Ziva too. . ."

Gibbs continued to reflect, _now there is no longer a Mike Franks to look up to and his legacy was passed on to his Probie. Mike Franks, his mentor was now gone, but his guidance brought him to the point that Gibbs was at now. He now had NCIS, a team to lead, his kids. And, in addition to his kids, he now had Leyla and Amira to care for too. In a sense, Mike Franks had provided a new family for Gibbs. Although Mike Franks could not give him back Shannon and Kelly, he did give a family to Gibbs. Now having reached this new crossroad in life, Gibbs felt it was his goal to provide the same support to his "Probies."_ _Each of them was hurting from their relationships with their own families or decisions not to begin a family. _

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><p>Thank you for reading and thank you for your excellent feedback.<p>

I have loved this new season 9 so far, and I love this new theme of "life's crossroads." The constant reflections done on the show this season to past decisions that the characters have made that help define their personalities has been so enlightening. There will surely be a second part to this season's theme as the angst continues this season.


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